Wintering with Vermouth and Ginger

My week off is over, I didn't get all the things I meant to do done, and today it rained, it's cold, it's dark and since getting home I've spent 2 hours struggling over trying not to sound like a prat in a C.V.    It's also very clear that people are starting to wind down at work and no longer care very much. Sickness had gone through the roof - or at least that's apparently why there was nobody to look after my wines, and why they were in such a bloody mess this morning.

I probably shouldn't let it bother me as much as it does, but with this job coming to an end I'm aware of how much I love the product, and how much I dislike it not being treated with respect (I may feel that by extension that's a lack of respect for me too). Despite the Monday blues there are things to be positive about, and one of them is Stephen Rutt's 2nd Book of the year.

'The Seafarers' is easily one of my favourite books of the year so I'm really looking forward to 'Wintering', which looks specifically at geese. There's an extra bonus in that for me, because I do actually get to see geese on a daily basis on the river outside my flat, they're also one of the few birds I hear fly overhead (city centre flat living means I get geese, peregrine falcons, crows, a really loud blackbird, and the occasional amorous pigeon - nothing else). The book is out on the 26th, but I'm lucky and have a review copy so am already reading it.

One of the most fun things about my job has always been customer tastings, especially the sort where you have a more or less free hand to play around with products - especially mixers. It's not really cost effective to buy half a dozen or more mixers to take home to mess about with, but it makes perfect sense at work. The surprise hit is almost always ginger ale, and so it was when we tried the Cinzano rosso 1757 with ginger.

It's the perfect autumn/winter long drink. The warmth of the ginger balances the relative sweetness of the combination, and works well with the richness of the vermouth. It's a comforting drink that's also comfortably low in alcohol. I like that it's colour is something like an autumn leaf too.